Once, in life things seemed to fall into my lap. By God’s awesome grace, it was for all, those around me were blessed because I was!
Then, my story was ‘shelved.’ Amazingly it was/is family and friends that carried me in my period of cessation. My thoughts were on David, Job, Jonah, Ruth, Samson… The do not end…
So, right quick – David defeated Goliath. A shepherd in battle!? He was ‘adopted’ into the house of the king. Yet, he had a spear thrown to pin him to the wall, he got away. Was hunted like a deer and had chances to slay Saul…
Job had blessings as he served his Creator and followed The Word of his Creator:
Yet, in The Presence of God, Satan before The Creator pointed at Job and stated that Job only served because he was blessed. God allowed Satan to take all away from Job. Job loses all and questions The Integrity of his Creator. Job even lost his wife after he lost his children and property. Job was blessed even more after his trials.
Jonah served The Creator and did His will. Jonah was directed to preach The Word of God in Nineveh; Jonah ran from God’s Presence that The Wrath of God – The Creator of ALL things could/would befall the people of Nineveh.
Jonah 1:3, “But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish…”
Jonah 1:17, “But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.”
Jonah 2:2, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
Jonah 3:10, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”
Ruth – was married prior to the son of Naomi and upon his death she refused to leave her mother-in-law. Amazingly, Ruth is an ancestor of Jesus just as David is/was. Remember this:
Are you Called?
And we visit the story of Samson: Samson is one of the most recognizable of the judges who ruled over Israel before the time of the kings. He was a Nazarite, yet broke many rules of the Nazarite vow. God gifted Samson with incredible strength, but he lost his strength when Delilah betrayed him to the Philistines, who blinded and enslaved him. At the end of his life, God restored Samson’s strength.
There is a special calling on our lives, we are j just who and where we are for a reason. This is true. However, Samson was a Nazarite (look them up in Numbers 6) and he had a unique calling that included representing God and His honor to the Philistines. Of course, I am oversimplifying, but you get the point. Samson was no ordinary believer. His ministry was special and he vowed to treat it as such.
Unfortunately, like so many of us, Samson had a self-control problem and he was power hungry in a lot of ways. This caused problems when he chose to flirt with unholy women to act out his unholy passions. I hope you’re paying attention here. This caused problems when he flirted with pride, asserting himself as being in control of how long God would put up with his shenanigans. God gave him specific instructions concerning his ministry, mission, and unique calling, yet he continually tempted the line between God’s presence in his life, and going it alone due to his unrepentant spirit. What began as a foolish game with a foolish woman, with a foolish desire to flex his proverbial and literal muscles actually exhausted his power. When he had played around with his calling one time too many, the Lord had to expose him to the consequences of his actions. The man who was formerly so powerful that no man or even group of men could contain him, fell prey to his own evil passions and became a slave to them.
We must learn from Samson’s story. We must learn to respect God and His divine calling on our lives. We must learn never to trifle with our mission, because God has invested so much in loving, equipping, and commissioning us. He could have allowed us to die in our sins, but he did not!
But Samson’s story is not only about what not to do. Toward the end of our theme chapter, we also see what we must all do who realize we have no power against sin and that we need a miracle of grace when we fall prey to our own lusts. Samson, having taken his lumps for his sin, becoming a blind slave and a mockery, called upon the Lord. He confessed his sins, turned in heart from them, and simply asked for God’s strength to do what he was called to do in the first place. He asked for restoration. God did it! Before Samson died, God restored him to favor, strength in the Holy Ghost, and mission in His service. In one day, Samson was more effective under the power of God than he had been in years frittering away his calling in his own strength.
So as our sin recovery principle states, when The Lord reveals our weaknesses to us, it is our privilege to fall into His Loving arms of mercy and accept His power of grace over our weaknesses. It is then that we will become strong. Be encouraged. God is ready, willing, and available to turn the tides on your sin addiction too. Just surrender to God and watch Him work miracles on your behalf.
